Controversial proposals to dump carbon dioxide produced by power stations under the North sea received cautious backing from the environment minister Elliott Morley yesterday.

Mr Morley said the technology - revealed in the Guardian - could be needed if Britain was to meet its ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"I certainly think it should be looked at. I don't believe it's the long-term answer but it may have some benefits at the transitional stage in terms of moving away from dirty technology to clean technology," he said. "There is a gap that renewables are not going to fill in the short term."

He said the plans would be discussed in more detail next month at a meeting between the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Under the proposals, drawn up by a DTI working group and due to be published later this month, millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide would be pumped into geological formations, empty gas reservoirs, or oilfields deep under the North sea. Scientists think the technology, called carbon sequestration, could in effect dispose of decades of pollution produced by burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas. The DTI report says the ambitious scheme could be the only way for Britain to fulfil its pledge of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.

Environmental groups have clashed over whether to support the proposals. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are opposed to carbon sequestration, which they say is unproven and potentially dangerous.

But Frederic Hauge, president of the Norwegian environmental group the Bellona Foundation, criticised that stance.

"Greenpeace and some of the other organisations are really unscientific on this issue," Mr Hauge said. "They are very dogmatic and they are blocking one of the most promising options we have to do something about the greenhouse effect."

Mr Hauge said carbon sequestration would be needed to reduce emissions during the time it took Norway and other countries to develop large-scale renewable energy sources such as wind and wave power.

Rob Gueterbock, a Greenpeace campaigner, rejected that idea as naive. "There will always be small groups... that criticise the mainstream environmental position," he said. "But the fact is that all the big environmental groups are opposed to carbon sequestration and carbon dumping."